If it wants access to the bloc’s single market, post-Brexit Britain must accept EU freedom of movement rules and the supremacy of the European Court of Justice, EU diplomats have warned ahead of a vital summit.

The idea that Britain could have access under a European Economic Area style deal and impose border controls was a non-starter, diplomats said.

Diplomats agreed that the UK would only be able to access the market of currently about 500 million people if it accepted the authority of competition regulators, the monitoring of the European Commission and the authority of the European Court of Justice.

“One must understand that acceding to and participating in the single market is not possible without the rules. If you want to benefit from the single market that is it. You have to accept the supremacy of community law,” a diplomat said.

Leave campaigner Boris Johnson, who is the bookmakers’ favourite to be the next UK Prime Minister, has suggested that the UK could have access to the single market while introducing an Australian-style immigration system.

“You cannot have your cake and eat it,” said one diplomat.

The status of the European Court of Justice as the highest EU court was also a sore point in the referendum debate.

Diplomats admitted that it would be difficult for the UK to accept its supremacy after so much talk of sovereignty.

Summit

EU leaders meet in Brussels on Tuesday (28 June) to thrash out the next steps that will take the UK out of the bloc. On Wednesday, all of them, except Britain, will meet to discuss what to do next.

Following the UK’s historic decision to leave the EU, member states convened in Brussels to begin the unprecedented decision of discussing the terms of its divorce. Follow EURACTIV’s live blog below for all the developments as they happened.

Non-UK diplomats are united in saying that there will be no discussion of the UK’s future status, until Article 50, the legal process to take Britain out of the EU, is triggered by the British.

“Until Article 50 is activated there will be no formal or informal negotiations. The range of possibilities for the UK’s future status are large, it could be the status of North Korea or that of Turkey,” said one senior diplomat.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, European Parliament President Martin Schulz and European Council President Donald Tusk have all demanded Cameron trigger Article 50 “as soon as possible”.

In London on Monday (27 June) Cameron told MPs that the decision to trigger Article 50 was “sovereign”, and a decision for the British alone to make.

The legal procedure to start Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union will not be triggered at this week’s European summit in Brussels because of the “significant political crisis” there, a senior EU official has said.

Diplomats admitted they had accepted that Cameron would not kick-start the process on Tuesday, especially as he resigned in the wake of the vote that sparked a constitutional and political crisis.

“No one in Brussels thinks Cameron is coming with activation in his head. He has no authority. There is a lack of authority to launch the procedure,” a diplomat said.

Britain’s Labour opposition leader, Jeremy Corbyn was faced with the resignation or dismissal of at least seven of his shadow cabinet on Sunday (26 June) in the wake of the Brexit vote – just 48 hours after Prime Minister David Cameron announced his own resignation.

EU officials are happy for Britain to have a number of months to prepare a stable government but there has to be a clear timetable.

Pressure is building on Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to resign following the UK referendum, but also over the need to “change the habits” of his way to run the EU executive over the last two years.

The EU's founding states want Britain to begin leaving the union "as soon as possible" to keep the bloc from being stranded in "limbo", Germany's foreign minister said after emergency talks held on Saturday (25 June).

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Comments

3 responses to “Diplomats: UK must accept freedom of movement and ECJ to get single market”

We accepted free movement of anyone and everyone and ended up with 5492 underage victims of immigrant rapists. No one offered protection until the story became public.
What price access to the single market?

Cameron did not trigger article 50 after the referendum, even though he said he would, he will not trigger the article in the near future and in fact he will now not trigger it at all, but leave it for someone else after him, whoever and whenever that may be. I have a strong feeling we’ll be waiting a long time for this to happen.

This is the base treaty only inside the E.U. and should be respected but other things should be respected which is to ask US if We the citizes want to accept more migrants or any member-states if they fulfill the agreements . I mean this should be written in a base European Constitution and where is it ? Leaders should implement and write the ability direct of democracy and protection of citizens on it – so that we can decide and further build our Europe finally ! The Eurozone lacks tremendously a light constitution and as we don’t get we are unable to write decisions in it ! What are Leaders waiting ? Presidents of the Zone needs to signe the amendement in which base laws and principles the E.U. is governed and adding later new bill of rights decided in ref. by citizens ! It’s fine and works well ! The U.S. did it and so can the E.U. !